Element 115
by Art n' Music
Summary: The world is broken. Very broken. The dead walk the Earth, and what remains of civilization is at the mercy of forces we barely understand. The only knowledge a group of survivors have is from a radio and a voice speaking inside one's head. The survivors must survive waves of zombies while following the instructions of one voice. But is there more behind the Apocalypse?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Missile Sighting**

"Mr. Cunningham!"

The seventeen year old boy with violet hair wakes up, showing dark blue eyes, and looks at an irritated Mrs. Driscoll. "Unless you want to fail health class, I suggest you don't take a nap in my class."

"Yes, Mrs. Driscoll," he assures. When the old teacher turns back to the board, and twisting the skeleton of Mr. Driscoll with her, Randy Cunningham, also known as the Ninja of Norrisville, leans on his arm, holding a bored expression again. He watches as the aged woman draws the picture of the human brain on the whiteboard, using different colors to represent the different parts. But as he stares at the image, his mind wavers off again as usual. His eyes flutter and soon close. Suddenly, he sees fire everywhere. Lava runs around and most buildings are burned, ashen, and destroyed. Screams of pain and terror can be heard all around. As the fire spread, a body appears and shrieks, making the teen gasp back awake.

Next to him, his orange-haired, round teen named Howard Weinerman notices the change in his friend's appearance, who is breathing heavier than usual and his skin is slightly pale. He nudges to alert him and asks, "Hey, you okay buddy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just saw something really scary."

"And that would be?"

The secret ninja debates whether to tell him or not, a little nervous on what he would think, and compromises on, "I'll tell you later." He looks back at the board of a brain and instantly becomes confused. "Uh, Howard, what are we learning?"

Turning to him with a slightly bemused face but answers, "We're learning about the importance of the brain and the many different problems that can happen to it."

"What does that have to do with science?"

"Uh, we're in health."

Again, Randy is confused but then remembers it again. "Oh, right."

"Having a brain fart, Cunningham?"

"Ah-I don't know. Lately, I've been forgetting things. Don't know why, though. Good thing they're small things."

The bell rings and everyone rushes out of their classrooms. Howard and Randy stop by their lockers and the orange-head asks, "So what was the reason for your frightened look earlier?"

Alright. Well, when Mrs. Driscoll was talking I started to doze again-"

"Yeah, saw you do that."

"-then I started dreaming. I thought it would be me kicking the Sorcerer's but again, but I instead saw something…unimaginable."

"If it's unimaginable, then how come you saw it?" Howard jokes.

"I'm serious! Everything was on fire. There was lave running everywhere, and everything was just…destroyed! Like it's the end of the world!"

Randy's friend stares at him then gulps, finally wrapping his mind on why it's unimaginable.

"And that's the not it. Before I woke up, somebody, or something, appeared in front of me and it roared at me with his arms flailing around. The freakiest part is that his eyes were glowing blue."

"Okay, that is pretty scary," he admits. "Did you happen to see any scary movies recently?"

After thinking for a moment, he answers, "You know, there was that zombie movie I saw a few days ago. Maybe that's why. The world was an apocalypse."

Howard sighs and says, "Oh, great. I thought the dream meant something."

"What? Did you think I had a vision?"

"I don't know."

Through a gap in Randy's backpack zipper, a red glow starts emitting. Curious, Randy excuses himself to the restroom and takes out a square black and red book with weird symbols everywhere. When he opens it, his body goes slack as his spirit is whisked into the flipping pages. After floating through some Japanese art and passing through some doors, he comes to a small village with a few cherry blossom trees and the mountains far off. "Okay, Nomicon. What is it that's bugging you?"

To answer, a dragon stomps into the village and attacks a wall to shreds. When it's done, the dragon flies away and the secret ninja reads what the winged lizard left. "Trust your heart, despite what others say, and they will trust you."

"What does that mean? You know that I work alone. Besides, everyone already trusts me to save them."

Suddenly, the ground starts shaking vigorously and lots of fissures extend all over the village. Randy falls down and watches in horror as the village breaks apart and fires spread everywhere. He shouts, "Are you trying to scare me by recreating my nightmare? Just get me out of here now!"

A hand sprouts out of the ground when his spirit gets pushed back into the rightful body and Randy suppresses a shudder. He puts the book back in his pack and walks out of the bathroom to find Howard waiting for him. "So, what did the book wanted to talk about?"

"I'd rather not talk about it." He heads to his history class, followed by a confused Weinerman. They arrive just before the bell rings and take a seat in the back of the class so the teacher doesn't catch them resting. The history teacher walks in with a brief case and announces, "Good morning. I hope you all studied for the test today."

A few students groan, including Howard who says, "That's wonk," but the purplette actually smiles. _Well, it looks like my mom forcing me to study is actually going to pay off, _he thinks.

After the teacher passes out the papers, he says, "You have until the end of the class to finish. Begin," then sits at his desk with a book in hand. Everyone soon starts rubbing their heads in frustration at the equally frustrating questions. The only ones not troubled are the A+ nerds and, to some extent, Randy. A few questions he passes with ease and some he has to stop and think. Halfway through the class time, he glances over at his friend and finds him struggling on the second page. He pounds on his head for a while then grins. He writes his answer on the paper.

When history class is almost over, the ninja looks over at his paper again to see if he answered everything. He smiles but then spots something at the bottom of the last page. An EX is next to the question. "Hmm. I could always use some extra credits," he whispers. But when he reads the problem, he is greatly puzzled.

"What is group 935?"

_What the juice? What does that have anything to do with World War II? _Randy asks himself. He shrugs and decides to answer it. When its five minutes before the bell rings, the teacher walks around and picks up the test, finished or not. Everyone starts talking and the carrot-head asks his friend, "So, what'd you think of the test?"

"I found it pretty easy."

"Mom made you study?"

"Of course. How 'bout you?"

"I barely passed page four," Howard answers.

His friend reassures, "Hey, at least you got to the last page."

Once the bell rings, everyone leaves for their next class but the teacher stays at his desk to grade the tests. He whisks through them easily, having memorized the answers over the years. He gets to Cunningham's test and corrects it, slightly astonished Randy got a decent grade. When he reaches the extra credit question and reads his answer, he flinches forward in shock and reads again just to be sure. "Oh my…" The teacher looks around to make sure he's alone then rips the small section and shreds it in the shredder.

Later, at lunch, Randy walks to the table where Howard is already scarfing down his food. He sits next to his friend and starts eating when the carrot-head asks, "Cunningham, you mind telling me what the Nomicon wanted now?"

"Fine. The book told me to trust in myself, despite what others say, and they will trust me. After that, the village I was in broke to pieces."

"What do you suppose that means?" he asks.

Randy is about to answer when a kid trips nearby and spills food all over him. The one who tripped him starts laughing along with everyone watching and the boy runs out of the lunchroom, humiliated. The friends watch him silently then the ninja says, "I don't know what the juice that means. I mean, is it too much to ask for a clear answer?"

"You mean like my McFist Pad?" Howard says, smiling.

"No. The McFist Pad works for you, but the Nomicon works for me. Somewhat."

Unexpectedly, a large, bull-like beast with twisted horns rips the lunchroom doors off their hinges and roars. The whole room takes action and screams out of the school with the faculty. The ninja of Norrisville says, "Looks like its Ninja o' Clock," and jumps behind the food aisle, black and red ninja mask in hand.

The Stanked teenager chases after the bully that tripped him, much to the bully's dismay. He screams for someone to help him when a red cloud erupts on a table with a shout of "Smoke Bomb!" When the cloud disperses, the Norrisville Ninja appears and jumps in front of the monster. "Alright then, let's get this over with," he says while taking out his expandable nunchucks. The beast roars and charges, but Randy effortlessly jumps over the bull and throws his nunchucks around the horns. He pulls himself back in front and whacks the stanked teen through a wall. It crashes into a tree, uprooting it. While befuddled, the ninja runs out and spots a glowing green sketchbook in his belt. "Sketchbook. You must be an artist. Ninja grab!" He uses his scarf to swipe the book out of the belt and slices it with his Ninja Sword he took out from the suit. The Stank flies out of it along with the Stank from the teen and heads back into the school. When the green mist disappears, the hero turns back to the teen and finds him waving his head around, obviously still dizzy. "Hey, you gonna be alright?"

To answer, the boy just faints. The ninja groans and mutters, "Great. Now I have to carry him to the nurse's office." After taking off his mask, he looks around to see if there's anyone to take her when he spots Howard sprinting toward them. _Ah, good. No I won't have to carry him alone. _But when the orange-head comes closer, he notices that he looks frightened. "Hey Howard, what's with the face?"

The friend stops and says between gasps, "Cunningham, we need to get back to school. Now."

"Why in such a hurry?" he asks while scratching his head in confusion.

"Don't you hear the sirens?"

"Huh?" The purplette listens and hears a loud noise echoing in the air. "Okay, but what does it mean?"

"I don't know, but we need to get back inside! C'mon!" Despite his heavy breathing, the round boy runs back to the double doors of the school. Randy quickly picks up the unconscious boy and chases after his friend. When they get to the door, Howard tries to push the doors open but they won't budge. "Oh man, we're too late!" He starts banging hard on the window while screaming, "Someone! Anyone, open the doors! Help!" When he's exhausted, he slides down the door and collapses on the ground. He groans, "Maybe we can find another way in."

The ninja was about to agree when he hears a new noise amongst the siren. He looks up and widens his eyes in dread. He stutters, "H-H-Howard, I think we're too late."

"What do you mean by that?" he looks up and screams, plastering himself on the door. "We're all dead!"

Above the whole world, the two teens see a missile flying across the sky, slowly pointing down to earth. Randy looks around and barely sees two more rockets aiming at different parts of the world. He looks back at the locked doors then sets the boy he's carrying down. "Alright, I'm going to go ninja and break through the door. After that, we rush to the missile-safe room."

"What are you waiting for?! Do it!" shouts the carrot-head.

"Hey, you boys!"

The friends look toward the voice and spot the school janitor, Sundown, standing next to a cellar on the side of the school. "Quick, get in here!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Howard shouts while jumping over the railing. The secret ninja picks the artist up again and quickly follows. Once the three are inside, the janitor hastily closes the metal doors and locks it tight. "Alright. We should be safe now."

After setting the comatose boy down, Randy looks around the cellar and spots a TV on a desk next to a radio and an Xbox underneath the TV, a bookcase full of books and games, more games than books, a cot with some blankets, and a door on the far wall; not the usual knick-knacks you would normally find in a cellar. "Thanks for the save Sundown, but uh, what's all this?"

"Well, at first it was a tornado cellar back then but when the school added the safe room inside, they forgot about this. So, with my paycheck, I fixed it up and use it as my personal home," the janitor says. "It's got everything. Entertainment, a place to sleep," he walks to the door and elbows it, making it open to reveal lots of canned food and a small kitchen. "And food to last us about seven months. Also, the doors are made of stainless steel, gratitude of the school."

"But, don't you have a home of your own?"

"Yeah, but I come here to get away from my mom. Which I do often, now that I think about it. Anyway, you three are safe until the government give the all-clear."

"And how long will that take?" Howard asks.

"Oh, one day, a few months tops."

"But, what about our parents?"

Randy answers, "I'm sure they know we're safe. After all, the school has its own safe room." Suddenly, the entire room starts shaking, knocking everyone off their feet and waking the artist. When it stops, he shouts, "Who, when, how? What's going on?"

The other three look at each other when Randy adds, "But just in case, I'm gonna call them." He takes out his phone and speed dials his mother. After a while of constant ringing, the ninja finds that his phone is on voicemail. He hangs up and says, "That's strange. The cell tower must be down."

"No surprise there," Sundown says, lying on his bed.

"Hey, what's going on?" the teen asks again.

After explaining what happened, the artist runs around the room screaming in a panic for hours. The others just watched him with annoying expression. When he had enough, Howard sticks a foot out and trips the boy. "Would you just calm down? We're going to be fine. I mean, we're only stuck in here for a day, or a month or two," he mumbles the last part.

"Okay. Okay. I'm good."

The purplette sighs and says, "Looks like we're going to stay here for a while, with a wacky artist, my best friend with a black hole stomach, and a janitor. Oh boy."

* * *

It's been three days since Randy, Howard, the artist, and Sundown has been locked in the improved cellar. Right now, the janitor is sleeping on his cot, the teen artist is drawing on some papers and improvised supplies, and Randy plays some cards with his Howard. On the desk, the TV has been nothing but static as well as the radio. After looking at his cards, Howard asks, "You have any aces?"

"Go fish," Randy answers.

He picks up a card and the purplette asks, "You have any ones?"

His friend growls and hands him a red and white card with one heart on it. Randy smiles and positions his last set, showing his success. The carrot-head groans and throws his deck down. "I don't get it. How are you winning so much?"

"What can I say? I'm just lucky."

"But for three days straight? Not likely!"

"Oh well." He gets up and grabs a blueberry muffin from the kitchen for the tenth time. _Geez, I'm sick of these,_ the ninja thinks while peeling off the wrapper. He walks back out long enough to see the teen artist put down the pencil and says, "Hey Cunningham, wanna see another masterpiece?"

"No thanks. I've seen nothing but masterpieces for three days. What I want to see is outside."

"Whoa, hold on kid," the janitor wakes up and stops him. "We never got the okay from the Man."

"And how are we gonna get the all clear?" the ninja asks, motioning to the TV and radio. "These things are useless and I don't think they're going to get fixed anytime soon."

"Either way, we have to wait."

Howard gets up and stretches his back then says, "If we're going to wait longer, then I am going to get a snack."

"Oh-hoh, no you don't." Sundown scampers off his bed and blocks the entrance to the kitchen. "You already ate three months worth of food in three days. Now, you're sticking to breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Oh, come on! It's not my fault I'm a growing man."

"Yes, that's it!" the artist exclaims. "That will be my next masterpiece!"

"Oh, for the love of…" the purplette mutters, "You know what, I don't care. I am going outside and checking what happened." He starts walking to the doors but the janitor tries to stop him, "Whoa man, I suggest you don't."

Randy ignores him and unlocks the door. "Alright then, let's see what the world looks like." He vanishes from view. All the others see is a gloomy red glow coming from the door. They don't hear anything for a while until Randy's voice calls, and it sounds frightened, "Uh, guys? You should come see this."

Confused, the carrot-head asks while climbing up, "Cunningham, you okay? You sound like you just saw a ghost."

"I wish I saw a ghost."

"What do you mean by…that?" he mutters at the end. He now sees the world for the first time in three days, or what's left of it.

Reddish dust coats the world, so thick it diminishes everyone's vision and the sky so no one can tell if it's day or night. For the small parts not glazing the earth, cracks riddle the ground, some large enough to let lava flow out and cast an eerie reddish-orange glow. Trees are burnt and bent in horrific shapes and the grass is scorched beyond dead. Randy turns around and finds that most of the school has collapsed into a rubble pile but the clock tower still stands. But that is slightly bent and has large cracks, the clock missing two thirds of its face. The teenagers hear fire crackling somewhere and they hear far-off screams. Howard's breathing shudders at the sight of the new world. "Did Hell rise up and take over?"

"I don't know, but all this looks familiar, I just don't know why. We should get back to the cellar. I'm getting a very bad feeling." Randy starts walking back when something tackles him down with a screech, terrorizing the teen to his soul.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: What's happening?**

Randy collapses on the ground, trying to push off the screeching body that tackled him in the first place. He hears Howard shout his name in surprise from somewhere but his main focus is the mouth and hands trying to tear him apart. He instantly grabs the head and forces it away while keeping the hands at bay. The purplette then gets a good look of the man but then regrets it greatly.

The flesh of the man is deathly gray with pieces either hanging limply or peeling off his face, showing the disgusting red muscle underneath. His entire left cheek is gone and his mouth is drooling something dark red. He reeks of death, as if the body is decomposing in a garbage can. But the most horrifying is the bright blue glowing orbs that are his eyes. Randy's eyes widen to the fullest, remembering precisely the same eyes in his dream.

The mad man continues to struggle against the boy's arm, which is on his neck holding him back. Soon, the secret ninja roars with a mixture of fear and adrenaline and kicks the body away from him. He stumbles back on his feet and breathes comprehensively. The man slowly gets back up and runs toward the boy, face full of a cavernous hunger. Randy should've run away but he instead waits for him to get closer then rush behind him and grab his hand and jaw. Instantly, he twists it farther than the neck is intended and a loud crack is heard. When the body collapses limply, the purple-haired boy stares at it in shock then looks at his equally stunned friend. "Did-did you…" he stutters. "Did you just kill that guy?!"

"I-I don't know! I wasn't thinking! It just happened!"

He expected Howard to say something back but he stays silent, looking at him with scared eyes. "Uh, Cunningham." The round boy points over his friend's shoulder. The Norrisville Ninja gulps but slowly turns around and realizes his friend wasn't looking at him. Walking and shuffling out of the dust are more men and women, all with the same dead flesh look and blue eyes, some looking worse than others.

The tall teen stumbles backwards to his buddy and says, "Howard, I don't think these people are alive."

"Oh, what? Are you saying that those are zombies?" he asks in disbelief.

"Let's find out." From behind, Sundown runs up holding a broom. Before anyone can stop him, the janitor thrusts the handle end first through the nearest man's chest, a very lethal kill. But to everyone's horror, the person screams and grabs the janitor, as if he doesn't acknowledge the broom sticking out of him. Utterly frightened, he watches as the others swarm around him and vanish from the sight of the two boys, only a soul wrenching scream coming from the small pile. On the ground, something dark red starts draining out of the gathering and falling into the deep cracks.

After a brief pause, Randy says, "We're both thinking it, so I'm just going to say it: Zombies!"

Howard screams and races toward the cellar, the purplette slowly following but keeping an eye on the now-called undead. A few of them finally spot him and start chasing the boy. Their shrieks alert the others of fresh prey nearby and they all start following their companions. Enough of them moved away from the death scene and the ninja-in-secret is able to spot Sundown, now deceased and mangled beyond recognition. He would've hurled is lunch on the spot but his whole body is too busy being scared for his life. So now he also runs toward the underground room. Once he jumps through the door, the orange-haired boy quickly locks the doors and rushes to his friend. The artist twists to them in shock and frantically asks, "What's happened? Where's the janitor?"

"Well," the tall teen pants, "You probably won't believe this, but the world is broken and there are zombies walking around eating people."

A loud bang comes from the metal doors, scaring the drawer and making him drop his improvised sketchpad. "What was that?" he asks in an utterly panicky squeak.

"Zombies," Howard simply states.

He chuckles nervously then orders, "Quit messing around! I'm already at my limit so please just stop with your jokes!"

"We're not kidding! There are really zombies out there and they already ate the janitor, Sundown."

The doors produce another loud bang with an inhuman groan. Randy twists to the door and sees that there are a few small dents on them. After frantically looking around, he says, "We need to get out of here."

"How? The only exit is blocked by a bunch of undead, unless you plan on digging our way out with a spoon!" the orange-haired boy reasons. The purplette scratches his head in thought when a something gets his attention. The cellar has been on lockdown for three days, yet the air they're breathing never seemed to turn stale or thin. So then there has to be an opening or something to let the oxygen ventilate. With the idea in his head, the ninja looks around the room, this time checking every corner for the alternative exit. Howard watches his friend for a while then asks, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find a vent or something."

"Why would there be a vent in a cellar?"

"How else are we not choking on our own breath?" He questions, turning toward his bro. He and the artist think about it then mutters, "Oohh."

Randy continues his search but soon stands in the middle of the room. He's checked the entire basement and the small kitchen but came out empty-handed. He rubs his chin and thinks, _I don't understand. There's got to be a vent somewhere. Okay, okay. Think Cunningham. Where haven't you check? _Looking around the room, his eyes lay on the cot sitting against the wall. Bending down, the purple-haired boy spots some unusual ridges in the shadow. He smiles and scoots the bed away and voila; a vent is on the wall. "Found it!"

The others rush next to him and look at the opening. Howard is the first one to notice something. "Uh Cunningham, there's a small problem. The vent is too small! We can't fit in there!"

The Norrisville Ninja looks between the two then comes up with a plan. "Maybe you two can't. But I can squeeze through and go get some help."

"Okay then, but what help?" the third person asks.

After a moment of thought, the best friends snap their fingers and say at the same time, "The ninja!"

"The ninja? Are we even sure the ninja is alive?"

"I've got a feeling he's still around," Randy says with a smile. "He doesn't go down that easily."

With that said, he pries open the metal fence and starts crawling through the dusty passageway. Soon, his entire body is covered in dust and he coughs to get some of it out of his lungs. He's also freezing cold from the breezes that blow through. "Oh man, this is so wonk. Why did I volunteer to do this?"

A low bang echoes in the ventilations, alert the ninja the dangers his friend, and the artist, are in if they stay. "Oh, right." He crawls faster through the cramped tunnel and soon reaches a point where it goes straight up. Slipping and sliding, he pulls himself up. His teeth are chattering from the cold and his hands begin to feel numb. After what felt like an eternity in the meat locker they call the vents, Randy finally reaches the point where it moves horizontal. It wasn't long before he found the first grate into the school, where the entire place red from the reflection outside and full of cracks and debris. He pushes the screen off, which clatters loudly on the tile floor of the mosaic carp, and falls down on his feet like a cat. "Alright, it's finally Ninja o' clock."

He slips on his mask and, once the suit fully covers him, quickly runs to the front doors, which are crumpled and hanging uselessly on their hinges. He doesn't see something get in his way until he's tumbling with the man down the stairs. The ninja quickly kicks the man off of him out of instinct and is glad he did it. The man gets up and reveals to be another zombie. It screeches while chasing after the boy, who jumps side to side and backs up so to avoid its grasp. He quickly grabs a Sais from his suit and throws it, nailing the walking dead in the center of its head. Forgetting the weapon, the hero ninja turns back to where the cellar is and find a sizable group of people at the doorway. "Oh boy. How do I get them away from the door?"

He thinks for a while then decides to just alert them of fresh meat. "Hey! Stinkin' dead people! Look whose outside with you!"

A few zombies turn their attention away from the metal, just as planned, then start coming after him followed by its brethren. The ninja takes a step back and mutters, "Okay, maybe not the best idea." Quickly taking out his ninja swords, he slices the people coming close, either a lethal cut across the chest or send their heads flying. Both tactics seem to work well. When the numbers become overwhelming, he quickly ninja jumps from his place and flips across the heads of the group, coming to a stop outside. The undead quickly redirect their assault toward him. Randy quickly takes out a few emerald balls with lime green symbols and shouts, "Ninja Electro Balls!" before throwing it at the attackers. Upon contact with the ground, electricity shoots upward, shocking the majority of the zombies which slumps on the ground, completely dead. The ninja throws his ninja rings at the last few that are still running but they only take out one, the others stuck in the decomposing flesh. "So ninja rings won't work so well," he says, making a mental note. So the purplette instead takes out two Sais and deliver killer blows in the heads.

Once all the attacking zombies are finished, the ninja walks to the cellar doors, which are banged up quite badly. _Jeez, these undead are strong, _he thinks. He raps on the door and shouts, "Are there any survivors in there? It's the ninja!"

The doors fly open and the artist runs out and hugs the hero. "Oh god, thank you! I thought I was going to die!"

"Okay, okay," Randy says a little uncomfortable, prying the boy off of him. "Personal space, dude."

Howard finally walks out, carrying some food in one arm. "Finally! I was for sure we were shoobed in there." He sniffs the air and gags, asking, "What the juice is that smell?! It's like a mixture liquid iron and overcooked meat!"

"Uh, that's blood and burnt zombie flesh."

The drawer looks around at all the fallen bodies and slides his hands through his hair, face full of pure fright. "Hoh-oh my god," he squeaks. He flicks his hand at all the bodies, stuttering out unintelligent words while walking around. The ninja and Howard watches his actions then the orange-haired boy leans close and mutters, "He's so not going to last long."

"Oh, and we are?" Randy just spits out. "We're as clueless as him. We don't know what or how this is happening!"

"Maybe we don't need to know. All we have to do is make a sturdy base, gets some supplies and weaponry, and spend the rest of our life isolated. Or when the Apocalypse is over."

"I'm not going to just sit idly over!" he shouts, surprising his friend. The ninja points to the dust and states, "There are people out there that need help. And as the ninja, it's my job to defend the defenseless."

"Easier said than done, Cunningham," Howard retaliates, accidently using the ninja's real name. Fortunately, the artist is too freaked out to pay attention. "I can guess that not only is Norrisville like this, but whole goddamn planet! This is the biggest danger the ninja has ever faced! Face that facts, you'll never be able to save everyone."

"Maybe not," he admits sorrowfully. "But I can try and figure out how this all started. Maybe find a cure to all this madness. Then I can at least help those not dead yet."

"And where do you plan on looking for the answers, huh?"

Randy turns his masked head in a certain direction, where a certain building would reside that holds a few folks. "I have one lead. C'mon!"

* * *

Within the dust is a large, metal pyramid with the top sliced off. Inside, a gazillionaire sits at his desk, his head laying on his hand and his other hand, which is entirely of gray metal with a brain in a jar, is busy tapping nonchalantly on the desk. Hannibal Mcfist turns around in his chair and finds that his enormous window is still sealed off with the steel shield. Growling, he asks, "Viceroy, have you fixed that home protection problem yet?"

"Does it look like I fixed it?" a dark-skinned scientist wearing a light purple lab coat says dryly. He bends down back to the fuse box and continues fiddling with the confusing wiring. Mcfist sighs tiredly, completely bored from being locked up. He would turn switch on the jumbo TV or the radio but they're both down. "If we're going to be locked up, the least we can have is some sort of entertainment!"

"What are you, nine?" the mad scientist mumbles. "If you want entertainment, then have the rob-apes do a dance or something."

"Hmm. You know, not a bad plan. I'll send some up right now."

Before he reaches for the intercom, green smoke suddenly fills a capsule on the other end of the room, alerting the two people. It soon clears and a withered, green-skinned man wearing a brown hood. The snarling man shouts, "McFist!"

"U-uh, yes Sorcerer?" the said person asks, feeling a little worried.

"I want to know why there hasn't been any misery in the school for a while now. If you want your reward then I suggest you come up with a plan NOW!"

"I'm sorry but you may not have noticed but I have a little problem right now," he says, waving to the closed windows. "My security system's been acting up to where I can't shut it down, so I'm pretty much stuck in this office. Right now, Viceroy is trying to turn it off and FAILING!"

"This is more complex than it looks, sir! I should know. I built it."

"Then why can't you un-build it!?"

The Sorcerer orders, "Enough!" The gazillionaire quickly ducks underneath his desk in fright, slowly looking back up.

"I don't want excuses. I want results. Results as in the destruction of the Ninja!"

"As soon as the security system is offline, I'll activate my earlier plan to destroy the ninja!"

"Don't you mean my plan?" the mad scientist murmurs.

Suddenly, a large piece of metal crashes on the floor, spooking the scientist and gazillionaire, and out of the newly-made opening a black and red clad person falls. He takes out two ninja swords once he lands and asks, "Okay McFist, what did you do?"

"What did I do? What do you mean?" he asks confusingly.

"Don't give me that. You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Behind the ninja, Howard screams and lands hard on his stomach. He starts getting up until the artist crashes on top of him, making them both groan in pain. Randy ignores both of them.

"No, seriously. I don't know what you're talking."

The impatient Sorcerer screams, "What are you waiting for? Destroy him!"

"Is this your doing, Sorcerer?" Randy twists around and points the tip of his sword at the glass capsule.

"You mean having McFist trying to kill you? OF COURSE!"

"Not that! I mean what's going on outside! It's sure full of misery by now!"

"What are you talking about!?" Hannibal shouts. "You're really confusing me! We've been stuck in here for three days straight without any news of what's happening! The doors should have opened by now but SOMEONE isn't doing their job!"

"I'm doing the best I can!" Viceroy shoots back, slightly tangled in multicolored wires.

"Well, why don't I show you?" The town's hero walks up to the blocked window and jumps up, slicing it in half. He then cuts the hinges off and slashes at various places of the metal wall until the whole thing collapses into pieces, along with the window by accident. The whole office is suddenly coated in a blood-red glow as the dead world reveals itself. The ninja turns back to his arch nemesis and says, "You see now?" To his surprise, Hannibal McFist jaw is open wide and even the Sorcerer is too stunned for words. Viceroy's eyes are like dinner plates as he walks over to the window, now free from the wires. He asks, "What…happened?"

"I thought you knew. I thought you were the one who did this!"

"No! Yeah, I'm a mad scientist but I wouldn't go as far as destroy Norrisville!"

"And I want to rule it so I need Norrisville to be intact," the Sorcerer says.

"Um, question." Howard walks over and asks ominously, "Is it just Norrisville?"

The scientist thinks about it then snaps his fingers. Immediately, a small purple and white device floats over to Viceroy and he pushes a button. A 3-D image hologram forms, showing the Earth. The whole planet looks like someone started ripping it apart but left it unfinished. There are large crevices on the world, large enough to show the mantle that's been inside the planet. Smaller cracks break off from the large ones and stretch far into the continents. Along with the planet, meteors of all shapes and sizes swirl around the world like the rings of Saturn. A few of the smaller ones reenter the Earth's atmosphere, or whatever's left of it, and fall back on the ground a blaze of fire. Everyone staring at the broken hologram is just speechless, trying hard to process this but failing. Finally, Viceroy mutters, "Oh. My. God."

"How did this happen?!" McFist screams at the top of his lungs.

"I've been asking myself the same question!" the ninja says. "But, if none of you did it, then who launched the missiles?"

"Missiles?" the mad scientist reprises.

"Yeah. Just before the Earth became Hell, there was a large missile falling from the sky. I thought it was one of yours."

"No, but I may know where to find their launching station." He walks to a computer and starts typing a bunch of commands, making the screen turn black and neon green. Soon, the map of the Earth appears and Viceroy mutters, "If I find the spots where there's the shockwaves from the missiles originated, then maybe I can find some patters as to where the rockets came from." After a few minutes, three red dots appear on the black and green map. The scientist deducts, "It looks like the three missiles simultaneously hit an unnamed desert area in Nevada; in the ocean between Antarctica and Africa; and the west end of Russia. Oh my, those are the edges of the Earth's tectonic plates."

"And, that's bad because…" Randy says.

"Those areas are the Earth's weakest points! It's where the plates meet with others! If there was a supreme explosion at those points then the plates would have separated so far that they can't return to their original positions. So they instead move away and thus, tearing the Earth apart."

"Oh."

At the window, Howard looks down and gasps. "Uh, ninja?"

"Is there a way to fix it?" he asks, unaware of his best friend's call.

"Ninja?"

Viceroy answers, "Unless you have large rocket or a gravitational machine to bring the plates back together!"

"Cunningham!"

"What Howard?" the ninja yells. He realizes that the auburn-haired boy used his real name. He looks at the scientist and gazillionaire and sees they both are staring at him with eyes full of recognition. "Howard!"

"I'm sorry but it's pretty much the end of the world and you really have to see this!" He points at the wall of the building outside.

Randy groans and walks up to the edge of the office. Looking down, he gasps aloud, finding that the undead are actually scaling the slick walls of the pyramid. He also spots them entering through different windows and doors. "They can climb!?"


End file.
